


Birds of a Feather

by Saxophone



Series: Killjoy and the Abyss [3]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 14:10:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20508311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saxophone/pseuds/Saxophone





	Birds of a Feather

You’re frowning at the birds in front of you, one of them is just barely grown out of being a squab, there’s another that looks like an escaped racer and a few more that show fancier breeds in their coloration. You absentmindedly throw another handful of seeds in their direction. You have things to do but, considering how the past few weeks have gone, you think you deserve a break. You have apparently become a magnet for rival villains, which considering your luck and propensity for attracting trouble, really shouldn't be that surprising. But they’ve been getting in the way, and the majority of them are packing better gear than you. Your best course of action now is just to lay low and hope they forget about you, while also avoiding getting killed by the collateral they cause. God you hate this city sometimes. You can’t win as a civilian or as a villain. 

“Excuse me--” 

You jump to your feet at the sudden intrusion, immediately attempting to back away before remembering with horror that you’re sitting on the lip of a fountain. The figure that interrupted you immediately snatches out a hand to grab you by the shirt collar before you go tumbling into the water. You let out a strangled yelp in response, trying to quell your fight instinct to no avail as your hands clamp around your saviors wrist. Well. This is awkward. You get a quick glance of your would be rescuer as he pulls you upright. Tall, God, why does everyone have to be taller than you? Wait. Why does this feel so familiar? Oh. Right. That time Abyss almost sent you plummeting to your doom. You’d think he’d know better to sneak up on you after the chair incident. Nope, not time for that, your hands still have the man’s wrist in a vice grip. As soon as you regain your balance you immediately snap your hands back to your sides, though one wanders up to scratch at the back of your head. You can feel your face heating up against your will. Stupid face. This is embarrassing. You manage to cough up an awkward “”Sorry.” The man immediately shoots into a string of garbled apologies in return, which only makes things worse in your opinion. He finally ends with a slight bow “I guess I should introduce myself after that mess. I’m Anton.”

Oh. Oh shit. Names. Normally you’d throw out a fake one, but your brain is too busy trying to figure out the quickest way to extract yourself from this situation to supply one. So you default. 

“Max.” You can’t resist the mock bow you throw his way, Killjoy bleeding through your civilian facade. Maybe you should be more careful, but there’s very few who’ve been subjected to Killjoy’s false theatrics and you can't resist being dramatic. Your bow causes the man to freeze, his friendly smile immediately disappearing. Shit. What now?

He’s silent for an aggravating amount of time and the overly friendly smile you slapped onto your face is long gone by the time he opens his mouth again.

“Killjoy.” It’s not a question.

Well. Shit. Time to beat it. Unfortunately you’re too busy trying not to panic to remember that you’re still backed up against the fountain. You almost fall back into the water another time before Anton grabs your shirt again. 

“We really need to stop meeting like this.” He says coolly. You blink.

“Abyss?” You manage to choke up through gritted teeth, hands latching onto the man’s wrist with way more force than last time. His hands definitely too close to your throat. 

“You are not good at this.”

“You’re preaching to the choir.” Much to your annoyance he keeps you suspended over the water.

“Are we really going to do this here? Can’t we find a nice back alley or something?” You slide your eyes over to park you’re in. It’s relatively empty now, but it’s still way too public a place for you to be bashing each other’s faces in. 

“Not much use without your rifle, huh?”

A slightly garbled laugh escapes you “Oh buddy, if you think I can’t kick your ass without a gun you’re so seriously mistaken.”

Abyss hikes one eyebrow and you know immediately he’s going to let go.

“Don’t you dare.” You growl “I will drag you in with me.”

Abyss drags you upright, prying your hands off of his arm. You scowl at him, feeling the familiar, desperate anger bubbling up. You are so screwed. All your fucking efforts to keep Killjoy as obscure as possible and two villains know your fucking identity. He’s right. You’re fucking terrible at this. 

You school your expression, making a show of dusting off your clothes. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. You’re Killjoy, you just need to keep up the act. 

You let a smirk show “So, Anton. What exactly can I do for you?”

He returns your smirk with an icy smile “Oh, you’ve done plenty already, _Maxie._”  
It’s a struggle not to cringe at the nickname, you only let a few people use it and it feels wrong coming out of your rivals mouth. 

You roll your shoulders “Okay. Vaguely threatening uses of my name aside,” He narrows his eyes at you. “Why don’t we cut to the chase, yeah?’

He scoffs “Another deal?”

“Aw, you know me so well already.”

He’s glaring daggers at you, understandable considering you’re last...agreement didn’t particularly end well. 

You hold up your hands in surrender “I’m sorry, I got tired of always being interrupted. And you kept ruining my traps. Okay? Plus, this one is a little bit more weighty considering the stakes.”

“Explosions aren’t high stakes?” You have to bite your tongue when you see the incredulous expression on his face. 

“Your targets are a lot more predictable than you think.” The scowl on his face has practically turned into a snarl. 

“Plus, I’ve mostly stayed out of your way.”

“Mostly?!” He hisses, pinching the bridge of nose “Mostly, does not count. The deal was to stay completely out of my way.”

You snort “Oh, okay. Says the guy who warned me minutes before things exploded.”

He looks like he wants to strangle you so you hold up your hands again ‘Okay. Okay. Lets just agree to disagree on that, alright? Wipe the slate clean, so to speak. This is about the deal we’re making now.”

He’s back to pinching the bridge of his nose and glaring at you. “Fine.” He sighs.

“Great!” You say brightly, clapping your hands together and plastering a broad grin on your face. He sighs louder in response, running a hand down his face.

“So we both pretend this did not happen, and in return we don’t go hunting each other outside of villain stuff? Yes? Sound good?”

“It is..agreeable.” 

“Good! Now…” You motion behind Abyss “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go drink.”

Abyss is still glaring at you as he steps back, allowing you to slip by. You’re several steps away from him, his gaze locked onto your back, before you shove you hand into your pocket to fish out the remainder of the bird seed. You grin to yourself before glancing back and throwing a handful of seed at Abyss’ feet. Immediately he’s on set by a horde of pigeons, shouting your name as you laugh maniacally, booking it to the safety of alleyways, a flurry of feathers behind you.


End file.
